Walking The Walk . . .

  "Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down." ~Proverbs 26:20 Gossip has been at the heart of every conflict I've know in my life. It's easy to partake in it, and it's easy to fall victim to it. And if you're the victim of it, there's nothing in the world you can do to defend yourself from it. The more vigorously you defend yourself, the more it looks like the gossip about you is true.  Do you want to have peace in your life?  You want to have a nice work environment?  Enjoy your church family? Have a family that isn't constantly fighting with one another.  You'll never be able to accomplish that in an environment where gossip flourishes. I had a boss that understood that perfectly.  He had little patience for gossip. That was when the world was a little less politically correct--he'd be down in Human Resources in about two seconds today. He'd overheard a group talking about another employee and he'd come roari

I never go to a concert with out some of these in my pockets. "Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes."   Ephesians 6:11 When I was in high school, I went to my first rock concert.  It was an 80s hair band called Ratt, and they had a big song at the time "Round and Round."  It's funny, but they're featured on a Geico commercial right now you've probably seen--the couple in the ad loves their new home, but they have a "Ratt problem."  Then it flashes to a scene showing the band Ratt playing "Round and Round" in their kitchen. That's the first band I ever saw in concert.  I didn't know what to expect.  I went with a couple friends--Chip was the only one old enough to drive, and of course Jim, too.  Anyway, when that opening act came out and started to play, I was overwhelmed.  It was so loud!  I grew up around farm equipment.  I grew up around guns.  I grew up blowing up things

It's easy to fall into a rut.  Working from home, it's even easier to fall into a rut--sometimes I'm not even sure what day it is.  Last week when I thought it was Wednesday and it was actually Thursday!  That was kind of nice, because I was a little further through the work week than I thought I was.   My wife said instead of just going right into my office and starting in the morning (sometimes two hours or more early) I should try shaking things up a little bit--maybe go out for coffee. What great advice! I've been having a blast! My mask in hand, I've been hitting a different coffee spot every morning! And I've had some really exceptional coffee this week.  I've even tried some different varieties (which isn't really like me at all)!  On Monday, I started taking a picture of my daily selection and posting it on social media and I've been getting all kinds of great suggestions from my friends of where I should go next!  I may hit a spot tomorrow t

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."   ~Mark 11:24   A couple years ago, I was flipping through the channels and I ran across a Billy Graham revival. I love Billy Graham. Always have. He preaches a powerful message, and when I was very young man I had a chance to go and see him.  It was an amazing experience! I decided to watch it. It was obviously recorded in the 80s judging from the hairstyles and clothing of the people in the audience. It was in a big stadium, and there were hundreds, probably thousands there to see Billy Graham.  And as I'm watching it, I was thinking I'd seen the program before, because the message was very familiar.  And then something caught my attention, and I was suddenly grabbing for the remote! When the camera flashed to the crowd, I saw somebody I knew!  I couldn't believe it!  I had to be wrong about that.  I paused it, and ran it back, and sure enough, one of the

I started my Monday off a little behind.  I was looking down at a long list of items I needed to do because I got off-track last week due to a few issues that had come up.  It's very easy to get overwhelmed when we're looking at a long, long list of things we need to do. It can seem insurmountable at times both in our work life and in our personal life. And sometimes for me, I can waste a lot of time trying to figure out how I'm going to get it all done instead of just doing it. And the other genius move I'll attempt is trying to multitask--trying to do three things at once. For some reason I just haven't seemed to have learned the lesson on the myth of multitasking--over my decades long career I've met dozens of individuals that claim they are masters at multitasking, but only one that actually was. Instead of fretting over it, wondering how it was going to get it all done, or what the right order was to do it all in, what I did is what I often do. I just jumpe

"Don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me." John 14:1 CSB Last Wednesday was a typical day for me--at least it has become typical for me over the last four months.  I got up early.  I was in my study and on my computer by about 7 am.  I worked at my computer, taking a few breaks throughout the day until about 5.  After I quit working for the day I stayed right there at my desk and studied for another hour.  My wife came home, and we had dinner, and then I went back to my desk and attended an online Zoom seminary event for a couple hours.  I went to bed, watched TV and "socialized" on Facebook and finally went to sleep.  So I spend about 14 hours looking at one screen or another.  This will be the experience many of our children as they "go back to school" in the fall without actually going anywhere.  Isn't it wonderful how the Corona Virus Pandemic has taught us how much we can actually do on our screens without ever lea